Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Lost and Found, Part 76 of 78
TEXT: "Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.' But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found' " (Luke 15:25-32).
IDEA: We show the spirit of a Pharisee when we are engaged in the Father’s work, but do not share the Father’s heart.
PURPOSE: To diagnose the spirit of the Pharisee in us.
Listen to the entire parable of the prodigal son. It is the longest of all of Jesus’ parables, and it’s the best known.
As you listen, who is the audience that Jesus is speaking to?
How many sons has the father lost?
I. Why do you think that, when the story of the prodigal son is told, we usually stop after the younger son returns from the far country?
Why do you think Jesus talks about the older boy who stayed home?
How are the two boys in contrast to one another?
From the point of view of the community, what would they have said?
From the point of view of the father, what might he have said?
From the point of view of Jesus, which of these boys was lost?
II. People can be lost to the Father in at least two ways, according to this story.
One, like the younger son, can be lost because he is out of the Father’s sight in the far country.
The second boy who stays home can be lost because he is out of sympathy with the father’s heart.
What is it that the father values in this story?
Is it hard work and obedience?
Or it is a relationship?
The elder son is lost because he is out of sympathy with the father’s heart. His father values his son in the far country and the older brother does not.
How does this story, then apply to the two audiences to whom Jesus told it?
